Strauss-Kahn Resigns

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has stepped down as director of the International Monetary Fund. Strauss-Kahn, who is being held in New York's Rikers Island prison on sexual assault charges, denied the charges against him but said he wanted to protect his family and the IMF, reports the New York Times. The Frenchman, once seen as the likeliest candidate to oust President Nicolas Sarkozy, has a bail hearing Thursday,

“It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of Managing Director of the IMF,” Strauss-Kahn said in a statement issued late Wednesday night. “I think at this time first of my wife—whom I love more than anything—of my children, of my family, of my friends." Pressure had been building on the IMF to replace Strauss-Kahn even before his resignation. (More Dominique Strauss Kahn stories.)